Someone to lean on
by browneyedgirl21
Summary: Ray is hooked on a girl but can Neela help him to get over her?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in ER. Ahh if only…**

**AN: I've always enjoyed Reela and wanted to write a story which focused on the friendship aspect in their relationship as well as romance so that is what I have done here. Please read and review and tell me what you think! **

_**Italics**_** thoughts **

Chapter 1:

Ray Barnett opened the door to the apartment that he shared with his colleague and roommate Neela Rasgotra and walked in dropping his bag on the floor as she followed behind him.

"Ray!", Neela said exasperatedly, "don't just leave that on the floor for anyone to trip over".

Ray did a U-turn and picked up the bag.

Neela smiled, "thank you". _There's hope for him yet, _Neela thought to herself.

Ray grinned, "so Nicks having a party tonight at his place, do you wanna come?"

Neela contemplated it for a minute, "Yes ok. Why not. I don't have to work tomorrow so I might as well".

"Cool. We'll leave about half eight", he told her.

Neela looked at her watch when he said this and saw that it was already seven. "I'd better start getting ready".

Ray looked at his watch when she said this, "what? But it's only seven"

"Exactly. That only gives me an hour and half"

"_Only _an hour and a half?", Ray said disbelievingly.

Neela gave him a pitying look and didn't bother to reply before walking to her room and closing the door behind her. _Sometimes guys were so clueless_.

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Neela came out of her room around twenty past eight to find Ray, lounging on the couch, channel hopping. Ray himself had only taken twenty minutes to shower and throw some clothes on. He glanced at Neela as she walked into the living room. She was wearing black jeans and boots and a scarlet halter neck with a simple silver heart necklace hanging down in the V of her top. She looked very pretty.

"A well spent hour and a half", Ray said appreciatively, "you look good"

"As do you", Neela said smiling, "and actually it was only an hour and twenty minutes. I was fast"

"Well done", Ray said rolling his eyes.

"Thank you"

"Great. Now that were both looking hot, lets roll".

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Ray and Neela arrived at the party half an hour later and were immediately greeted by a bunch of Rays friends. As Neela was talking to one of the guys from Rays band, Ben, Ray had a glance around and spotted a pretty brunette girl wearing a simple green dress and had her long hair tied in a ponytail. She wasn't the type of girl that Ray usually went for. Usually he went for the hottest girl in the shortest skirt but there was something about the girl in the green dress that drew him to her. He glanced back at Neela who was still talking to Ben.

"I'll see you later" he said to them with his attention already back on the brunette.

"Yeah ok", replied Neela, but he didn't hear her as he had already started making his way across the room to the girl.

As he approached her she turned towards him and he flashed her his sexiest grin.

"Hi. I'm Ray Barnett"

She smiled casually, "Hey, I'm Melissa"

_This is going to be fun, _Ray thought to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

_Its quite a nice night out tonight, _Neela thought to herself. She was standing outside in the back garden waiting in line to refill her cup from the keg. _Do people our age still have Beer kegs at parties? _She wondered as she reached the front of the queue. _Well I guess most of Ray__'__s friends do have the mental age of teenagers anyway. _Neela realised she must have been smiling at her thoughts as a guy standing near her smiled back to her as though in response. _He__'__s pretty cute actually, _she thought as he walked over.

"Hey, I saw you standing over here by yourself and thought that you looked as though you could do with some company", the guy said when he reached her. He was wearing jeans and one of those random band t-shirts that Ray always seemed to wear.

"Always", Neela replied.

"Great. I'm more then happy to perform my gentlemanly duty", he said

"Duty?", Neela said faking looking offended.

"Pleasure, I meant", he said smiling. "you look capable of taking care of yourself"

"Good coz I wouldn't want to have to hurt you to prove it", Neela said laughing.

"Yeah I don't really wanna have to go to the hospital at this time of night", he said.

"Oh that's ok, I could take care of you right here", Neela said.

"I work in the ER" she explained at his confused face.

"Oh well in that case its _your_ duty to take care of me", he said jokingly,

"I'm Ash by the way", he said holding out his hand.

"Neela", she said shaking it.

"So you know that I'm a doctor, but I don't know what you do", she said.

"I'm in a band".

_Aren't they all, _Neela thought to herself.

"And I also do some work in graphic design, doing promotions"

"Wow. Your so much more creative then I am", Neela said

"I'm sure you have many talents of your own", he said grinning.

"Well…"

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Ray had been talking to Melissa for some time but it wasn't really going the way that he had planned. Usually by this point in the evening, the girl would be all over him but Melissa didn't really seem to be that interested. However, the longer they talked though, the more Ray began to like her. He found out that she worked in marketing and that she had the same music tastes and even same food tastes as Ray. She was gorgeous and seemed to be outgoing.

"I'm in a band", Ray was telling her, "you should come to a gig of ours sometime". This had to make her interested. All the girls he knew were into the rock star image. _Except maybe Neela._

"Maybe", Melissa said looking around, "I'm kinda busy at the moment".

Ray face fell at this. He had found his perfect girl, and she wasn't even interested.

"Well how about I take your number because we have a gig coming up soon and I can give you a ring"

"Er… I don't think I can make it. It was nice talking to you", and with this she turned around and strode away.

Ray stood there gob smacked. _She didn't even wait to hear when the gig was! I can__'__t believe she just gave me the brush off _. _What did I do wrong? _Ray scowled. It wasn't that much of a big deal, even now he could spot a girl with blonde hair standing near by who was looking at him interestedly. But it really was. He had genuinely liked Melissa. He hadn't just wanted to get her into bed.

All of a sudden Ray wasn't really feeling the party vibe anymore. _I wonder if Neela__'__s ready to go yet? _He had a quick search of the house and found her coming down the stairs.

"Hey. Are you ready to go?"

Neela looked surprised, "Oh I thought I was going to have cab it back. What happened to that girl you were chatting up?"

"Nothing", Ray frowned.

Neela smirked, "Don't tell me Dr Rock got knocked back".

"Lets go", Ray said moodily.

"Hold on I just wanna say bye to this guy that I met". Ash had gone to get some drinks for them and Neela had gone to the bathroom meanwhile but she now she couldn't see him anywhere. _Oh well, its not like we were going to hook up or anything. At worst he__'__ll just think I was rude leaving without saying bye but I__'__ll probably never see him again anyway. _

Neela walked back to Ray who was gazing sullenly across the room at the girl in the green dress, "Ok lets go".


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Here comes chapter 3! I'm not sure how quickly I'm going to be able to write the next chapters coz unfortunately exam season had arrived and I have exams for the next couple of weeks, but I'll do my best. Anyway, enjoy!**

Chapter 3:

The next morning despite having a day off, Neela woke up early as usual. She yawned and rolled over and looked at the clock radio on her bedside table. 08:30. _Damn. Working in a hospital has totally screwed up my body clock. _She tried to go back to sleep but after another twenty minutes she was completely awake and she gave up. She got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen where she found Ray sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal looking dejected. He shoved the cereal around with his spoon not really paying attention to it. Apparently he had missed his mouth a couple of times because there were milk streaks on his plain grey t-shirt.

"Er Ray, I know guys have a problem with the whole hand eye co-ordination thing, but your seriously making a mess there", Neela said wrinkling her nose in disgust at him and started to pour some cereal into a bowl for herself.

Ray looked up at her bewilderedly as though he didn't understand what she was saying and watched her motions as though hypnotised.

Neela paused for a moment in her actions and just gawped at his behaviour with a look that was crossed between amusement and disbelief. For a minute they just stared at each other in silence, Ray looking gormless. Neela laughed. _Men really are from Mars. _

"Earth to Ray. What's up with you?"

At last her words seemed to pull Ray out of his coma. "Oh. Nothing".

"Are you still upset about that girl who rejected you at the party last night? Coz come on Ray, you're a young attractive guy, and there are always plenty of women all over you. Lucky for you there are loads of women who are also commitment-phobes just looking for a fling" Neela told him and couldn't help adding the last line.

Ray glared at her, but registered that there had been a compliment in there somewhere. "I'm not a commitment-phobe I just like to have fun ok".

"Whatever. Anyway what I'm trying to say is there are plenty more fish in the sea, sort of thing". Neela said brusquely walking to the fridge and pulled out the milk carton. She held it upside down over her bowl and only a few droplets came out. "Ray! I can't believe that you finished all of the milk again!"

"Oh sorry I'll get some more after work today", Ray said looking miserable again. He looked so pathetic that even Neela's wrath at the lack of milk dissolved. She walked over to him and patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. "Come on Ray she just a girl, and one who's obviously crazy not to go out with you coz you're a great guy."

"There must be something wrong with me", Ray said glumly. "I must be fat or boring or something".

Neela laughed at this. "Ray you are neither fat nor boring. Sometimes people just don't gel. You must have been rejected before, everyone has, it doesn't make it their fault. Don't tell me a girl has never said no to you before".

Ray scratched his chin thoughtfully at this. "Hmm."

"Oh come on…", Neela said shocked, "seriously?"

"Well not for a really long time. Anyway Melissa wasn't just any girl. She was special. She was different from the other. I don't know what it was but there was just something about her".

_Wow he must seriously like her if he's this upset. _"Well then if your that serious about her, don't give up. You obviously didn't get enough time at the party to let her see what a great guy you are", Neela said.

Ray looked up and smiled at her. _Neela always knows how to make me feel better. "_Your right. She obviously wasn't exposed to the full Barnett charm. I mean how could she possibly have resisted me if she had", he said grinning cheekily.

"I'm glad you've returned to your usual arrogant self", Neela said smiling.

"Me? Arrogant? Never.", Ray said before draining the rest of his cereal. He looked down at his shirt. "Wow. I really did make a mess". He stripped off his t-shirt right there and put it straight in the washing machine.

Neela glanced at his bare well defined chest. _He actually does have quite a good body for someone who eats so much junk. _Ray smirked at her, "Like what you see Neela?"

"Oh no your right. Your not arrogant at all", Neela said sarcastically. "It's the Barnett sex appeal. You better get out of here before I jump your bones", she said laughing.

"Always knew you were hot for me!", Ray said and dashed quickly out of the kitchen before she could throw something at him.

"Don't forget to buy milk!", She yelled at his retreating back, before starting to eat her dry cereal.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: here's chapter four! I'm not sure if its going too slowly or not, I'm trying to build the foundation at the moment, but might move the action quicker so let me know what you think. Thanks! **

Chapter 4:

Ray was nearing the end of his shift and was standing at the admin desk wondering whether he should take another case. He was only on for another twenty minutes and all of the charts looked liked they would take longer. _I could always leave now. _Ray thought to himself. _It is only twenty minutes after all and I've already signed off most of my patients. _He had pretty much convinced himself when a little voice in the back of his mind spoke and told him that he shouldn't shirk his responsibilities. _But it's the end of my shift! _He argued back with the voice. The voice told him that it wasn't for another twenty minutes. _Fine. I'll stay. Are you happy now? _Yes, the voice said. Annoyingly Ray noted that it sounded rather like Neela. _She's even getting into my brain. _Her constant lectures to him about taking responsibility were apparently starting to sink in. But the truth was, he didn't mind really. She was making him a better person for it. He wasn't going to tell her that of course though. She would probably take to nagging him about everything if she saw that it was actually working. _Not that she doesn't do that anyway, _he thought smiling and picked up another chart.

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Once Ray had finished with his patient he was already half an hour over the end of his shift but he felt that he had done the right thing. He was happy knowing that Neela would have been proud of him.

_Speaking of Neela I had better get that milk for her otherwise she certainly wont be happy when I get home. _

Ray walked to the jumbo mart and found the milk aisle. He picked up a few other things that they were running low on and also picked up some chocolate covered marshmallows. Neela was crazy about them and knew she would appreciate them.

Ray entered the apartment half an hour later to find Neela in the kitchen standing over a saucepan on the oven. "What are you doing?", he asked surprised. She glanced at him over her shoulder. "Brewing a love potion", she replied.

When he didn't respond to this, she turned around properly. "I'm cooking, what does it look like?"

"Well you never cook so the love potion thing was pretty believable", Ray said teasingly.

"Ha ha. Although it has been said in the words of The Police, 'every little thing I do is magic'", she joked.

Ray eyed the saucepan. He supposed it looked okay and it actually smelled pretty good. "Are you sure I wont get poisoned?"

Neela glared at him. "Well that was my plan, but you might get lucky".

"I got some more milk", Ray said trying to redeem himself.

"Good", Neela said sulkily.

"And some chocolate covered marshmallows…"

"Ooo!", Neela said looking delighted, forgetting her anger, "thanks Ray!"

"No problem Roomie", he said grinning sexily making Neela's heart skip a beat. _Whoa that was weird. Maybe he wasn't kidding about the whole Barnett sex appeal thing. I suppose he is quite sexy, _Neela thought grudgingly. All of a sudden she felt uncomfortable with him looking at her.

She turned around back to the stove and cleared her throat. "Anyway I can eat them tonight while watching _Passion Valley", _she said happily.

Ray groaned. "Oh no. You're not going to make us watch that crap again are you? We have to watch it every week".

"Yes. Yes I am indeed". Neela said, "And I know you like it really".

Ray had a shower while Neela finished making dinner and then they sat down to eat. Ray was not poisoned and found that it was actually very good which he told her. After they finished dinner Neela sat down on the sofa to watch _Passion Valley._ Ray joined her and quite enjoyed it. _I guess its not that bad after all. A bit trashy though but hey. _Neela got very involved in the drama and actually gasped out loud several times when shocking revelations were made. This was very amusing to Ray and once after she let out a small shriek Ray actually laughed so hard that he almost cried.

"Well I'm glad to see your in a better mood then this morning", She said throwing him a dirty look but she wasn't really angry.

"Yeah I am". Ray said, "Nick told me that Melissa was a friend of his new girlfriend and so I'll probably see her around a lot. I'm going to give it another go with her. Thanks for making me feel better".

Neela smiled, "No problem Roomie", she leaned over and gave him a quick hug which surprised Ray but he was really quite pleased about it.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Chapter 5 is finally up! Sorry for the mega delay, I've had exams and went home for a few days but now I'm back and the rest of the story should come along pretty quickly hopefully. Thanks for all your reviews they are much appreciated! **

Chapter 5:

Neela felt as though she had barely left the hospital at all over the next couple of weeks. Somehow multiple members of staff had been given leave at the same time and so the remaining staff had been under a lot of pressure.

Once again it had been a hectic day a county general hospital with trauma after trauma and a constant stream of patients. Neela sighed as she went over to admit to fill out the paperwork on the last patient she had. She looked at her watch. It was only 5pm and she was on for another 3 hours. Although the chaotic day had kept her busy, she was absolutely knackered and couldn't wait until her shift ended. She yawned as she flipped open her chart and began filling it out.

"Tired roomie?" Ray walking over to the desk.

"Extremely. Aren't you?", Neela asked. Ray had been working on the same traumas' as her and had been just as occupied the whole day but yet he managed to look as lively as ever.

"Not really. I've got a long night ahead of me still so I need to preserve my energy".

Neela frowned, "But you've been on since before me and I'm off at eight. When does your shift finish?"

"Oh I'm off at six but I'm going out tonight. It's Aaron's birthday tonight and so we're going to a bar in town", he replied.

"I really don't know how you do it Ray. I can barely keep my eyes open", Neela said yawning again.

"So I'm guessing you don't want to come tonight then?", Ray asked.

"Nope. Even if I wasn't practically dead I can't because it's the finale of _Passion Valley _tonight!", She said happily.

"Well then it's a good thing I'm going out so I won't have to go through the torture again", he teased.

Neela didn't believe him for one minute, "Like you don't want to find out whether Stephanie manages to escape from Isabelle's trap in time to warn George not to marry her because she's planning to poison him on their honeymoon so that she can steal all his money!"

Ray snorted, "sure I do". Although he wasn't going to admit it to Neela, he _was_ actually a bit disappointed to miss it. After being forced to watch the whole series he felt that he should at least get to see what happens to Stephanie and the rest of the characters. _And of course watching it with Neela is always good for a laugh_, he rationalised. He chuckled thinking about how Neela always got annoyed at him for laughing at her when she was watching it.

"What?", She said eyeing him suspiciously.

"I was just thinking about how funny you are when watching it", he said grinning.

"Well I'm sorry that you'll miss your weekly comedy show then", she said dryly.

"Me too", he said genuinely.

"Come people, I don't pay you to stand here and talk!", Morris called at them coming up to admit.

Ray and Neela both rolled their eyes.

"First of all Morris _you _don't pay us, and second of all I can't believe they pay _you_ at all", Neela retorted and Ray snickered.

"Someone got out of the wrong side of bed this morning", Morris said as both of them walked away.

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"So how did you hurt your arm Tom?", Ray asked the teenage boy whose arm he was wrapping up.

Tom looked at him nervously, "I…er… didn't see where I was going and tripped".

Ray glanced up at Tom surveying him. Something was definitely amiss. Ray had already spotted another bruise at the back of the kids neck. He had seen enough abused children to spot the signs and unfortunately Tom looked a likely candidate.

"Well I'll have to call your parents to tell them what happened", Ray said carefully watching for a reaction. Sure enough, Tom looked up quickly, "No! It's fine, they're busy, I can take care of myself".

"Is everything ok at home Tom?", Ray asked gently, "Because if it's not then I can help you. Sometimes even the people that love you can hurt you, but you shouldn't have to worry about getting hurt".

"No…its just…my dad. He lost his job a while ago…he started drinking", Tom said timidly.

"It's ok Tom. I'm going to get someone from social services to come and see you". Ray said.

"No! He didn't do it on purpose it was an accident!", Tom said looking like he regretted saying anything at all, "They'll take me away and lock him up!".

"Tom the most important thing is your safety but it sounds like your father could do with some help himself. I'm not going to lie to you. There's a chance that you may temporarily have to stay with relatives or possibly in a home. Alcohol can make us all do things we regret but if this really was an accident then there's a good chance that once your father has been able to get back on track that you'll be able to go home". Tom was old enough to understand and Ray thought he deserved to be told he truth, "But don't worry, I'm going to make sure that everything gets sorted out, ok?"

Tom nodded miserably.

"Ok I'll be back soon", Ray said getting up.

He set of towards the admit desk and phoned social services and explained Tom's case to them. When they sent someone down Ray took them over to speak to Tom and sat down with them. Tom looked as though he didn't want to say anything but Ray had another chat with him and gave him the courage to explain exactly what had happened. The social worker managed to sort out temporary stay for Tom with one of his aunt's, and Ray asked them to get some counselling for the father.

Ray stayed with him until his aunt came to pick him up and tried to keep his mind off everything by asking him about school and his friends. Finally when his aunt arrived, Ray said goodbye to him.

"Thanks for everything", Tom said.

"No problem, and don't worry we're going to make sure that your dad gets all the help he needs", Ray said seeing them out.

After Ray finished signing off his chart it was almost eight.

"What are you still doing here?", Neela asked coming up behind him, "I thought you finished at six".

"I did", Ray replied. He explained to her about Tom and Neela looked sympathetic.

"Poor kid".

"Yeah. I didn't want to leave until I made sure he was ok", Ray said.

"That's really good of you". Neela said. She had seen over the past months how Ray had become more and more dedicated to his work and patients and she was really proud of him, "you're a great doctor Ray".

Ray shook his head, "It was the least I could do", he said, "are you ready to go home?"


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thank you once again for your reviews! Here is chapter 6, and on goes the story…**

Chapter 6:

By the time that Ray and Neela had gotten back to their apartment it was already half eight. As Ray was late getting home, and was due to head out soon he headed straight for the bathroom.

"I'm going to go shower first if you don't mind coz I want to leave in a bit", Ray said to Neela.

"Sure no problem".

Once he was done Neela went in after him. "I hope you didn't use all of the hot water up!", she called to him as he came out.

"You wanted to have a hot shower?", Ray replied, "Sorry I didn't know otherwise I would have let you get in with me".

"Oh well in that case we can do that from now on, we'll half our water bill", Neela said whilst raising an eyebrow.

Ray although momentarily surprised at her reply, responded swiftly flashing her a grin whilst going into his room, "Sounds good to me babe".

Neela laughed. She was happy that her and Ray had reached this level of familiarity and ease between them. When she had first moved in it was a bit weird getting used to Ray's laid back lifestyle, but she had gradually learned to loosen up and was less uptight about things then she used to be.

Neela took a quick shower and changed into her pyjamas getting ready in ultra comfy mode for the season finale of _Passion Valley_. She was very excited as she rummaged through the kitchen cupboards retrieving the various snacks and goodies she had brought in preparation for this momentous occasion. She had some chocolate, wine, crisps, a banana and chocolate spread sandwich, nachos with a variety of dip and chocolate covered marshmallows of course. _Hmmm, there does seem to be a lot of chocolate in my snacks. In fact my whole general diet isn't particularly healthy. I should probably start working out. I don't want my arse becoming the size of Pluto. Hmmm, maybe it already is the size of Pluto!, _Neela suddenly thought worriedly, _Maybe I just haven't noticed because the weight is going directly to my bum and I can't really see it. Crap! _

Neela tried to crane her neck over her shoulder and look at her backside. _Well it doesn't really look any different, but maybe in profile…_

"What are you doing?", Ray said standing in the doorway of the kitchen looking amused.

"Tell me the truth", Neela said seriously, "Does my arse look like Pluto?"

Ray laughed and Neela glared at him. "I'm not kidding! I haven't really been watching what I've been eating and I'm worried that I'm starting to look fat".

Ray looked at her disbelievingly. He glanced up and down at her and even in her pyjamas it was obvious that she was perfectly slender and in great shape. _She has a great figure_, Ray noted, _how can she possibly think that she is anything other than gorgeous?_

"Neela you are definitely nowhere near fat", Ray said, "And your ass looks nothing like Pluto. In fact you have a fantastic ass", he said smirking whilst looking at it.

Neela, who was starting to feel a bit embarrassed at having him stare at her bum for so long, was relived. She turned to face him properly, "Really?"

"Neela seriously you're one of the prettiest girls I know, your slim and beautiful and don't need to worry about your figure at all", he said genuinely.

Neela looked quite touched at his words and blushed a little.

"So are you heading out now?", Neela asked him still a little rosy faced.

"Yeah", Ray said. He had spent longer than usual getting dressed and doing his hair. He knew Melissa was going to the party and wanted to look his best. He hoped that she would give him another chance to prove himself.

"Don't worry she's going to love you once she gets to know you", Neela said reading his mind, "you'll definitely win her over".

"How can you be so sure?", Ray said nervously.

"Well you won me and my opinion over", Neela said grinning, "and she can't be much harder then me can she?"

Suddenly Ray loved her in that moment. "You know what? You seriously are the best roommate ever", he said making her go pink again and she looked pleased as she picked up her sandwich to take a bite, "But I have to say, you do have weird taste in sandwiches".


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

After Ray had left, Neela settled herself down on the sofa in front of the television with her snacks in preparation for her program to start. She checked her watch. _Half an hour to go! Yay! _

She flicked through the channels not really paying attention to what was on as she thought about what Ray had said to her earlier. _I can't believe that he thinks I'm one of the prettiest girls he knows. Because considering the amount of girls Ray knows that's saying something. _

To be honest she didn't care that much about her attractiveness but the fact that Ray thought she was pretty made her feel happy. _Beautiful. _That's what he had said. And for some reason it made her feel all tingly inside.

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Ray reached the bar slightly later then planned what with the late shift, extra time getting ready and the whole Neela butt discussion. He laughed as he remembered how genuinely concerned she was that her ass was becoming too big. _I guess women are just weird when it comes to things like that. _

As he was a bit late most people had arrived already. He quickly scanned the bar and his heart skipped a beat as he saw Melissa in a corner talking to a friend. She was looking very pretty in a black skirt and top and her brown hair left flowing loosely around her shoulders.

He went over to Aaron to say happy birthday and chatted to the guys for a bit. He didn't want to appear desperate by heading immediately for Melissa.

Finally he spotted he standing by the bar by herself ordering a drink and he went over.

"Let me get that for you", he said as he reached her side, and took out his wallet. He smiled down at her.

"Oh err.. thanks", she replied with a small smile as he paid for her and drink and got a beer for himself.

"How are you Melissa?", he said.

"I'm ok, quite busy at the moment with work and everything", she said. "How are you?"

"I'm great. Works quite hectic for me at the moment too but it always is so hey", he replied, "you look really nice tonight".

"Thank you", she said smiling.

_So far so good. _Ray thought. _At least she's actually looking at me this time. _

They chatted for a while longer and Ray found out more about her work and things she liked to do in her spare time. Ray made sure he was attentive and asked her lots of questions to show her that he was interested. He also told her about some of his hobbies.

"So are you enjoying the party so far", he asked.

"Yeah its pretty good but I don't know that many people here", she replied.

"Oh well I can introduce you, I know most of them", Ray said.

"Yeah maybe later".

Brett came over to the bar to get a drink, "hey Ray, Melissa", he said smirking and giving Ray a knowing look.

"Neela decided not to come tonight?", he asked.

"My roommate", he explained to Melissa.

"No she's watching _Passion Valley. _It's the season finale, wild horses couldn't have driven her out", he said smiling.

"Too bad. See you guys later", Brett said walking away.

"_Passion Valley_?", Melissa giggled, "She must be a bit of a dork to watch that instead of coming out".

Ray felt a stab of annoyance at her comment. He knew that he often made fun of Neela for watching it but he never meant it maliciously and Melissa didn't even know Neela.

"Actually she's really cool and its not that bad a program", he said slightly coldly.

"Whatever", she replied.

Although he wasn't happy about her comment about Neela he decided to let it slide and tried to get the conversation back on track.

They managed to get onto the topic of food somehow and Ray found out how she liked Italian food. He decided to take the plunge.

"Oh well I know this great Italian place nearby maybe I can take you there sometime", he asked trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Umm look Ray", She said looking sideways, "I don't really think its going to work out".

"But how do you know that if you won't even give me a chance", he said slightly desperately loosing all pretense.

"Actually I know you better than you think", she said bluntly, "your just like every other guy trying just trying to get another notch on your bedpost. My friend told me about you. Your Ray Barnett, the hot rocker who thinks he can bed any girl he wants. I saw the way your friend looked at us when he came over. But let me tell you this, your not that great and you're not going to get me into bed because frankly I think you're a little shallow". And with that she walked away.

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Neela had just finished watching Passion Valley back at the apartment and had munched her way through all of the snacks. Once the program had begun all thoughts of Ray left her mind. She was certainly not disappointed with the show as it was packed with drama and excitement. Once again she gasped out loud at all the shocking moments and if Ray had been there he would have been in fits of laughter at her usual reactions. The biggest shock was the death of Neela's favourite character at the very end of the program which actually dissolved her to tears.

Ray entered the apartment a little while later lost in his thoughts. After Melissa had left he had just stood frozen at the bar in shock. He left immediately and all the way home he thought about what she had said. He couldn't believe how badly that had gone. _Is that really how people see me? Am I really that shallow?_

He heard some sniffles from the sofa which brought him out of his reverie. He suddenly realised in surprise that Neela was crying and momentarily forgot about Melissa and the bar.

"Neela what's the matter?", he asked concerned.

She let out a jumble of words between sniffs, "Valley…Nico…trap… rescue… dead!", she wailed.

"Huh?", he said confused.

"Isabelle shot Nico when he was trying to rescue Stephanie and he died", she managed to get out her sobs subsiding. Now that she was getting over the shock she was a bit embarrassed to have Ray find her crying. She would never hear the end of it.

"Oh", he replied sighing and leaned his head on the back of the sofa.

Neela studied him for a minute. "Is everything ok Ray?"

"Do you think I'm shallow Neela?", he asked looking troubled.

Neela thought about it for a split second before answering firmly, "No".

There had been a time when she would have probably said yes but Ray had grown so much since then and she had seen how he was passionate about so many things in life.

"Why?", She asked. He must have got the idea from somewhere.

"Melissa rejected me and told me that she thinks I'm shallow", he said miserably.

"I can't believe she said that!", Neela said indignantly, "Well she's clearly clinically insane or otherwise just deluded. Let me tell you Ray that you are definitely not shallow".

"No, you know I think I am", he said dejectedly, "I do always sleep with loads of women and party all the time".

"But there's so much more to you Ray!", Neela said earnestly, "Your so passionate about your music, you're a kind, loving person, and you're a great doctor! Would a shallow person stay behind two hours after his shift to make sure a kid had the support he needed to deal with being put into care? You only need to look at today to prove to you that you aren't shallow."

"Yeah I guess so…", he said slowly looking at her.

"Exactly! It's totally her loss if she doesn't want to go out with you", she said sincerely.

"You know Neela, you always know how to make me feel better", he said smiling.

"Well I'm only telling you the truth", she said, "Just forget about her. Hey, I think there's some ice cream in the freezer! There's no better way to get over lost love then cookies and cream!"

"What you mean we still have food left in the apartment?" he said teasingly looking around at the coffee table littered with the remains of all the snacks.

"Oi!", she said laughing, "that's no way to speak to your fabulous roommate!"

Ray laughed as she got up, "ok well I'll make it up to you by letting you tell me about what happened in _Passion Valley_".

"Yeah yeah, I know you just want to know what happened yourself!", she replied coming back in with the ice cream and spoons. And with that they enjoyed the remainder of the night with friendly arguing about the program and gorging themselves on ice cream.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Sorry everybody for the immense delay in getting the next chapter up. Things have been kinda hectic recently but hopefully I should get the rest of the fic up promptly! Thank you all so much for your reviews and as always more are welcome! So here we are then with chapter 8...**

Chapter 8:

Neela could have sworn the walls of the apartment were actually shaking as loud rock music came blaring through into her bedroom from the living room. She sighed, she had a shift later in the day and had hoped to get a few hours sleep but that didn't seem very likely once Ray's band had showed up for practise.

_If only I had some ear plugs_, she thought. She looked around her room in hope that she might actually have some that she had forgotten about. She randomly pulled open a couple of draws and found some fluffy pink ear muffs in one of them. Morris had been her secret Santa last Christmas and had gotten them for her. Branding them as useless she had put them in her draw and hadn't looked at them since._ I wonder if these will work. Maybe they're not completely useless after all. _

She put them on experimentally and found that she could still hear the noise although admittedly it was somewhat 'muffled'. She sighed again, _well I guess something is better than nothing. _

She went into the kitchen to make herself a sandwich. _There might be some chocolate spread left for a banana and chocolate combo._

As Neela passed through the living room the guys were taking a break. Nick called to her as she walked by.

"Huh?", she said taking of the ear muffs.

"I said, nice ear muffs", he repeated grinning.

"Thanks", she said slightly coldly.

"Why exactly are you wearing them", Ray asked looking amused.

"To block out the racket", she said bluntly.

"Ouch!", Nick said, "Are we really that bad? Maybe we should practise more".

Ray laughed at the look on Neela's face as Nick said this. "No actually you're fine the way you are", she said quickly.

She went into the kitchen keeping the ear muffs around her neck and Ray followed her.

"Hey, sorry about all the noise" Ray said.

Neela ignored him.

He carried on, "I know you're tired and you've been really good putting up with it".

She was rummaging through the cupboards and didn't say anything.

He sighed, "Neela please I'm really sorry, I'll promise not to have anymore practises when you're in".

Neela snorted, "Yeah right", she said finally turning around holding the jar of chocolate spread.

"I will! Or at least I'll try not to", he conceded giving a small smile.

Neela felt her anger dissolving. _Damn it I shouldn't have looked at him,_ she thought annoyed with herself. "Ok fine you're forgiven. For now".

"Good. I hate you being mad at me". he said grinning.

"Do you know if we have any banana's left?" She said looking around the kitchen.

Ray groaned, "Why? Your not making one of your god awful sandwiches again are you?", he said eyeing the jar of chocolate spread in her hands suspiciously.

"I'll have you know they're a culinary masterpiece. But there aren't any bananas", she said looking disappointed.

She looked through the fruit bowl on the kitchen table and held up an apple thoughtfully.

"Don't do it", Ray said warningly, "you'll regret it".

"Yeah you're right", she said sighing and put it back in the bowl.

Brett put his head around the kitchen door, "hey Steph, Melanie and Jessica phoned and I told them to come round"

Ray looked worriedly at Neela.

"Oh for god sake", She muttered.

"Brett maybe you should phone them back and tell them not to come", Ray said. It _wasn't _really fair on Neela and he didn't want to make her mad again.

"Oh just forget it", she said defeated, "I've got to go to work in a few hours anyway."

"Are you sure?", Ray said looking at her, "Coz I can tell Brett to call them back".

"No it's fine", she said wearily. _What does it matter what I want anyway, I only live here! _she thought to herself.

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The girls had arrived soon afterwards and the guys were soon into their flirting/showing off mode. Ray would have normally have joined them but after the whole Melissa debacle he felt less inclined to. Despite Neela telling him contrary he knew their was an element of truth in what Melissa had said. And whilst he wasn't about to get married and have kids anytime soon, he had begun to wonder whether he wouldn't be happier in a proper relationship rather than a string of meaningless encounters.

_Maybe I'm just being stupid. This could just be post rejection talk, _he thought._ I mean I'm young and single, I'm entitled to a bit of fun aren't I? _Ray decided to put all of these thoughts out his mind for the time being. Jessica had been flirting with him since she got here and maybe she was just the thing to distract him…

"Hey lets play spin the bottle!", she had suggested, giggling and batting her eyelashes at him. Whilst this was the perfect way to get starting a little fun and frolicking off, Ray found himself restraining rolling his eyes when she had proposed it. _What are we fifteen?_ he had thought but everyone else was up for it and so there he was ten minutes later getting a bottle from the kitchen.

"Ask Neela to play otherwise we have less girls than guys", Brett called to him.

"Yeah ok", he replied.

When he entered the kitchen he found Neela sitting at the counter eating a sandwich (he didn't ask what was in it) and flipping through a magazine, fluffy ear muffs on head.

"Hey", he said.

She looked up and removed the ear muffs, "hey".

"So do you fancy joining us for a game of spin of the bottle?", Ray asked.

"Spin the bottle? What are you fifteen?", She said raising an eyebrow.

Ray laughed at her words. _Wow I'm even beginning to think like her. _

"Hey, it wasn't my idea, plus there are less girls than guys at the moment and if I end up having to kiss Nick I think I will cry", he said pulling a face.

Neela laughed, "that's more of a reason for me not to play to see that!".

"Please Neela", Ray said pouting.

She looked at him exasperatedly but was smiling and he knew he'd won, "seriously Ray, you could charm a brick wall with that pout!"

"So you'll play?", he said slyly.

"Yes ok", she said rolling her eyes. She stood up and followed him out of the kitchen.

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_What possessed me to agree to this, _Neela thought as she sat cross legged on the floor in a circle. _I mean seriously spin the bottle? Ray must have caught me when my senses had taken leave of me! _

So far she had been lucky that the bottle had yet to land on her but she was dreading the moment that it would.

_Maybe I can stay for another ten minutes and then make my excuses and not have to kiss anyone at all! _she thought. Unfortunately for her the bottle landed on her just that moment with Brett as the spinner. She groaned inwardly, _Great, so much for my escape._

Ray had been watching Neela's face closely and grinned when she caught his eye. He knew that she would be throwing daggers at him in her mind right now for making her do this.

"Looks like its you and me Neela", Brett said looking delighted.

"Looks like it", she said bracingly.

Brett obviously noticed her reluctance, "Hey its not exactly the first time me and you have locked lips is it?", Brett said smirking as he leant forward.

There was a little splutter from Ray's direction as he chocked on the swig of beer he was taking.

Neela didn't notice though and rolled her eyes at Brett, _he always has a great way of putting things. _she thought closing the gap between themselves.

There were the general hoots and cheers as they pulled away and Neela could feel herself going red.

"Ok your turn now Doc!", Nick said handing her the bottle. "Maybe I'll be lucky this time", he said winking at her.

By some small miracle Neela's phone went of at exactly that moment. "I'd better get that" she said jumping up to answer it.

Ray watched her go into the kitchen with a little frown on his face._ When had Neela and Brett 'locked lips' before? _For some reason he didn't really like the idea of his best mate and his roommate being intimate. He knew that he had tried to set them up at one point on Brett's request but he had actually been glad Neela hadn't been keen on it. He had always thought that it was because he didn't want to have to find a new place for band rehearsal if things had gotten awkward between them but now he wondered if there wasn't another reason for it…

Neela came back in the room, "Sorry guys that was the hospital, I have to go in early coz they're backed up so I'll see you all later!"

Ray thought she sounded pretty relieved and frankly he was too. He didn't think he was really up for seeing her kiss anymore of his friends. Before he could contemplate why this was, the game was resumed and he pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hi! I know its been a million years and I'm really sorry. Combination of writers block and lack of time kinda delayed this. I havn't forgotten about this fic though and I hope you havn't either! Here is chapter 9 finally! **

Chapter 9:

Ray woke up the next morning with a hangover and a bad mood. After Neela had left for work last night the games and drinking had continued at the apartment, however for some reason Ray hadn't felt like partying anymore. Ray brushed it of as to being down to being tired from work, although deep down he would have to admit that his sullenness had begun the moment that Brett had revealed that him and Neela had been intimate before.

Although Ray knew that it wasn't any of his business as to what either of them got up to, it bugged him none the less.

Although the others had left eventually, it was much to Ray's irritation that Brett had passed out on the sofa. Whilst standing over him in his annoyance and slightly drunk state Ray had a moments glee in imagining pouring the remains of his beer over Brett's head and throwing him out onto the streets, however he had come to his senses and instead grudgingly went to bed.

Brett staying over wasn't anything out of the ordinary however for some reason Ray didn't really feel like seeing him this morning. As he passed the sofa on the way to the kitchen to get some breakfast, Brett rolled over and grunted a greeting, "Up then mate?"

"Looks like it", Ray said coldly switching the kettle on.

"Someone got out of the wrong side of bed this morning", Brett said yawning as he stumbled into the kitchen.

Ray didn't bother responding as he opened the fridge to look for some milk,

"Is everything alright mate?", Brett asked from behind him. Ray glanced at him over his shoulder and felt quite guilty when he saw that he was looking quite concerned.

_What am I doing? This is my best friend here and I'm angry at him for…I don't even know why!_

"Yeah I'm fine, just tired and hung over", Ray said turning around properly and sighing.

"Tell me about it you really started knocking them back last night!", Brett said helping himself to some cereal.

"Yeah I don't know what got into me", Ray said wincing as he slammed the fridge shut. He rubbed his head in hope that this might alleviate some of the pain. _Thank god I have today off work. I don't think I could face weaver in this state. _

The truth was he did have some idea what made him drink so much and the term 'drowning out your sorrows' sprung to mind however he chose not to mention this to Brett.

_Why does the idea of him and Neela bother me so much?! _Ray thought frustrated with himself._ I don't even know what happened! It could have been something totally innocent _he reasoned.

He was driving himself crazy with these thoughts. He just had to know. He decided to pluck up the courage to ask.

"So err…last night was cool. Can't believe we ended up playing spin the bottle though man", Ray said conversationally.

"Ah yes. It _was _good wasn't it", Brett said smiling into the distance as though remembering it fondly.

"And err, what you said about you and Neela, you know about you err…kissing. What was that about" Ray said lightly hoping Brett wouldn't see through his pretence.

"Oh", Brett said looking surprised, "It was a long time ago I thought you knew".

"No", Ray said feeling nervous all of a sudden, "what happened?"

He held his breath waiting for an answer. He knew that at one point when Neela had first moved in and Brett had expressed some interest, he had suggested it to her but she had dismissed it immediately and he never mentioned it again. He had just assumed she wasn't interested but what if something had actually happened? _What if they hooked up coz of me?! _he thought worriedly.

Brett studied Ray for a minute before answering. He could tell that Ray was trying to act like he didn't really care but he wasn't his best friend for nothing.

"It was nothing man. It was after she first moved in and well…we kinda made out one night for like ten minutes but she stopped it and went to bed. That was all. I thought she would have told you about it. I can't have been that bad!", Brett joked. Seeing that Ray wasn't laughing but did look somewhat relieved he got up and stood beside him.

"It was ages ago man. It meant nothing to her", Brett said putting a hand on Ray's shoulder.

"Oh yeah I know", he said shrugging he said feeling a little better after hearing that they hadn't actually slept together, "its fine she can do what she wants".

"You were always rubbish about lying mate but I didn't realise you were so blind as well", Brett said smiling. He stopped grinning though and turned to face Ray. "Dude, don't you see it. She's crazy about you".


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you so much for all your reviews! What with writing fanfic and waiting for ER to get its act together with the roomies, being the loon that I am I even had a dream about them last night! Crazy indeed... but we all have to get our happy ending somehow! That and with fanfic! Too bad that alarm had to go off... Anyway here's chapter 10 enjoy! x**

Chapter 10:

"Dude, don't you see it. She's crazy about you".

Ray heard these words coming out from Brett's mouth but somehow didn't quite register them. _What…how…_

"Dude, didn't you hear me. She's crazy about you."

"What…what are you talking about", Ray said finally looking at Brett with a confused expression on his face.

"You know for a doctor you seriously are an idiot sometimes", Brett said shaking his head at him.

When Ray continued to stare at him dumbfounded, Brett carried on.

"Haven't you seen the way that she looks at you. The way she talks to you, hell the way she talks _about _you", Brett laughed, "seriously her eyes just light up".

Ray could feel a tingle run through him at Brett's words. _Does Neela really have feelings for me? _For some reason the thought made him feel warm with happiness. But suddenly the warm feeling faded. _Neela's smart, sexy, funny…what would she want with a guy like me. God, even Melissa didn't want me and look at what she turned out to be! _

"Earth to Ray!", Brett said waving a hand in front of his face, "didn't you hear me?"

"I heard you", Ray said finally, "your just mistaken". As he said these words he felt his heart sink. For just a moment he had believed that an amazing girl like Neela could fall for him and it had felt wonderful.

"No I'm not", Brett said defiantly, "She does! I know it!"

Ray looked at him disbelievingly, "Look I live with her, if she felt that way about me I'd know".

"No it just makes you all the more stupid", Brett said exasperatedly, "she head over heels".

Ray shook his head unconvinced. He turned away to face the sink and muttered under his breath, "I'm not that lucky".

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Brett had long since left to go home leaving Ray with only his thoughts for company. Brett's words kept spinning around and around his head. _Could it really be…no…but…maybe…?_ Thoughts of whether Brett's words might actually be true both raised his heart and plummeted it within seconds.

There was only one solid conclusion that he had come to after trying to sort out his head. He finally realised why thoughts of Neela and Brett bothered him so much, why he was choosing to spend nights in more and more just to watch scary movies and poker. Why his heart jumped every time she came into the room, why the mere thought of her made him smile.

He, Ray Barnett, had fallen for Neela Rasgotra.

There was no doubt about it. He was completely smitten. This revelation had been enough of a shock to his system itself. He didn't know exactly when these feelings had developed but now that he recognised them he realised they had been there for some time.

The problem now was, what to do next. As much as Brett had tried to persuade him otherwise, Ray knew that he couldn't have been right. _It was impossible. Wasn't it? _

Despite trying to shrug of any thoughts that Neela might like him as more then a friend, the hope that there could even be the slimmest chance that she could, burned bright in his heart.

Ray groaned burying his head in his hands. He just didn't know. He wished for it so much that he felt as though the power of his desire could actually make it happen, although one of the arguments that he had given Brett seemed too convincing to ignore.

"I live with her, if she felt that way about me I'd know".

It was true. They had been roommates for over a year now. If, as Brett had claimed, Neela did like him in that way, why had he not realised sooner. He certainly wouldn't wasted his time going after silly groupies.

He remembered the times that he had come home dejected and moping about Melissa having knocked him back. It was Neela who had comforted him. Neela who had been there for him. Neela who had made him feel better about himself and made him forget about his miseries and enjoy himself. He always had fun with Neela.

He smiled thinking about how much he enjoyed spending time with her. She truly was his best friend, bar Brett of course when he could be bothered to show up. As he thought about this he came to a conclusion. He couldn't mess things up. She _was_ his best friend and he didn't want to loose that. He didn't think he could bear it if he messed up something so precious to him because of his one sided feelings.

_No, it was best left alone. _


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews! Here is Chapter 11! Enjoy! x**

**Chapter 11:**

The sunlight shone brightly through the window as Neela walked into the kitchen and opened the cupboard to retrieve some cereal. Once again Neela had a rare midweek day off and she felt happily refreshed having managed to get a whole ten hours sleep the previous night.

She heard the shower on in the bathroom as she had walked past and so she knew that Ray must be awake as well. She felt like she hadn't seen Ray properly in days. Ray had been going out late after work and sometimes left the next morning before she had even woken up. The times when she had seen him their conversations had been brief and … Neela couldn't quite put a word on it but she felt like something had changed. She had even at times wondered if Ray had been deliberately avoiding her, but brushed it off. _Why would he ignore me?_ However she had definitely noticed one thing : something was up with Ray!

Neela poured herself a cup of coffee and then on second thought got out another cup from the cupboard and poured Ray a cup as well. Maybe she could try to talk to him over breakfast. She picked up the mugs and wandered into the living room lost in her thoughts and unconsciously came to a stop outside of the bathroom. She gazed at the door in a daze when suddenly it swung open. Neela jumped almost upsetting the mugs of coffee that she was holding as Ray came barrelling out.

"Jesus!", He yelped as he came to an abrupt stop a few inches in front of her.

"Sorry!", Neela said apologetically. She looked up at Ray who had seemed to have gotten over his shock at seeing her and now looked at her curiously.

"Were you waiting for the bathroom?", he said and then glanced at the mugs of coffee.

"Oh! I made you some coffee!", Neela cried thrusting the mug into his hand. The closeness in proximity to Ray who was wearing nothing but a towel had disconcerted her somewhat.

"Oh…err… thanks", he said awkwardly taking the mug. Seemingly lost for words he took a sip.

"No problem!", Neela said a little to brightly. Still acutely aware that they were standing extremely close together, her gaze fell on Ray's bare, well defined chest, just at the moment she happened to take a large gulp of her own coffee. She choked involuntarily and to her dismay spat her coffee out all over Ray.

"Oh god!", She cried horrified, "I'm so sorry! I can't believe I just did that".

Ray stood there looking a bit stunned as Neela ran into the bathroom to grab a flannel. She rushed out again and began to wipe down the front of Ray's chest.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it", he mumbled looking flustered as she continued to scrub.

"No it's totally not ok you just had a shower! I'm such a klutz! I don't know how I did that! She said, her face red looking deeply embarrassed. "I should probably wet this", she said indicating the flannel.

"No!", Ray croaked. "Seriously it's fine!"

"Ok…", Neela said glancing at his face.

"I'll go and get dressed", he said as he walked quickly to his bedroom and shut the door.

_Damn! _Neela thought. _So much for talking over coffee!_ _I can't believe I spat on him! That's so disgusting. _

When Ray came out of his bedroom ten minutes later dressed and ready to go, Neela was waiting in the living room. "Hey I'm sorry again about earlier, do you want me to make you some new coffee?"

"Nah, I'm late for work as it is I'll just grab some when I'm there", he said giving her a small smile. To Neela's relief he didn't look angry.

"Ok", she said smiling at him herself, "I'll see you when you get home yeah?"

"Yup", he said walking to the door, "Cya then".

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Ray walked into the break room to get some coffee and checked his watch. 4.00pm. He sighed. _Still another 3 hours to go before I'm off. _

The day had seemed to go on forever. It had been unusually slow in the ER much to Ray's disappointment as he had nothing to keep his mind wondering back to the events of that morning.

Since his own personal revelation about his feelings towards Neela he had spent as much time as he could away from her. He figured the best solution was to go cold turkey and that the less time he spent with her, the sooner his feelings would go away. However, it hadn't been working so far and instead he began to suspect that Neela was going to clock onto him soon if he carried on in that way. To make things worse, spending time away from her had only served to reiterate how much he enjoyed being with her in the first place. The more he thought about it the more he wondered how he could have been so blind to his feelings.

He sat down on the worn sofa in the break room and his thoughts once again strayed back to the morning. He had been surprised enough as it was to find Neela standing outside the bathroom waiting for him but even more surprised by her strange behaviour. _But then again she's always been a bit crazy. _He thought smiling as he remembered the time she had told him to melt the snow that had built up in the kitchen by turning the oven on and leaving the door open. But even more worryingly he had even found her weird antics this morning cute. He hadn't even cared that she spat on him! Rays cheeks went red as he remembered the way she had began to scrub his chest with the towel. He had realised that he had to get out of their pretty fast or his feelings would have become…obvious.

He sighed once more and was just about to get up when he felt his mobile phone vibrate in his lab coat pocket. He pulled it out and was surprised to see that the message was from Neela.

**_Sorry about this morning again! Dinner tonight to make up for it? I promise not to spit on you :) ! xNx P.S. by dinner I mean I'm cooking - and no jokes! I'm at least 70_****_ percent certain that I wont poison you. _**

He smiled as he read the text. _She's so sweet. Damn it. _There was nothing he'd rather be doing tonight after his long shift was over then spend the evening with her. _And I can't really avoid her forever can I? _he thought. He started to text back a reply.

_**That sounds great. :)**__** R x**_

And with the rest of his shift suddenly feeling a lot easier to endure, he downed the remains of his coffee and left the room.

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Ray unlocked the door to the apartment and walked in looking forward to seeing Neela. He found the living room and kitchen empty although smelling delicious and called out her name.

"Neela?",

"In the shower!", came a muffled reply from the bathroom, "Be out soon!".

"Ok!", he yelled back.

He dumped his bag on the floor and flopped down on the sofa. There was a rental DVD resting on the coffee table in the living room which caught his eye and he picked it up. It had a pink post-it note stuck to it which said: _**Thought you'd appreciate it. But if I can't sleep, you aren't going to either…**_

He opened the case and laughed. _The Omen II_. He had been bugging her to watch it for weeks but she had outright refused on several occasions after being scared witless after watching the first one. He realised that she must really be making an effort if she had rented the movie.

He went to his room to get changed and when he came back out he found Neela dressed and in the kitchen peering into a saucepan on the hob.

"Smells good", he said as he came close and peered over her shoulder as she began to ladle it out into a big dish.

"Thanks", she said smiling at him, "Go and sit down, I'll be serving up in a minute".

Ray did as he was told and was promptly joined by Neela who had served up a yummy looking creamy coconut curry.

"Tastes good too!", he said as he tried some.

Neela laughed at him. "You always sound so surprised."

Despite the lack of contact in the previous days, Ray found they eased into conversation as though nothing had changed. He was really glad that Neela had arranged this evening as it made him realise that he was being a complete idiot by trying to avoid her. They were still friends after all, and Ray was man enough to appreciate even just her friendship. His thoughts were confirmed by Neela's words as they settled down to watch the movie after they had finished dinner.

"Ray, stop me if I'm overstepping the mark, but has everything been ok with you recently", She asked with a concerned look on her face as she turned to face him, "It's just that… I mean…is everything ok with us?"

Suddenly Ray felt a rush of guilt as he gazed into her worried brown eyes. The dinner, the movie, in fact the whole evening had obviously been carefully prepared by her because she was worried about him. About his stupid behaviour towards her. She had been the most wonderful friend to him and he had pushed her away. It was exactly what he hadn't wanted happening in the first place. This evening had proved to him that he could be around her without being uncomfortable, despite his feelings, and it wasn't fair to treat her the way he had been. She had done nothing wrong after all.

"I've just been a twat recently and I'm really sorry for making you put up with that", he said looking at her sincerely, "But I've come to my senses and everything's fine now".

As he finished speaking he leaned over and gave her a quick squeeze.

Neela grinned, "I'm glad to hear it. It feels like forever since we've hung out. You've been a ghost lately and well…I've missed you"

Ray could not describe to her how much it meant to him to hear her say this as he looked at her, so he settled for, "I've missed you too."

A small tinge appeared in Neela's cheeks and she grabbed a pillow and hugged it tight as she turned to face the t.v. "Lets get this over with", she said as she pulled the pillow up to her face.

"Hey this is the fun part!", Ray said smirking as he pressed the play button on the remote and sunk into the cushions for what looked to be a great night.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Here we go again... enjoy! **

**Chapter 12:**

During the next couple of weeks things improved greatly between Ray and Neela. It seemed that Neela's dinner had done the trick in getting Ray to stop avoiding her. Whilst his feelings hadn't gone away, he had managed to subdued them somewhat and accept her friendship gratefully. Thankfully Neela had forgiven his recent strange behaviour. He pleaded temporary insanity. He just hoped she would ask no further questions.

It had been a stressful and long day at the ER for Ray and the night was not over yet. He had a gig to play at with the band he was surprised to find Brett at the apartment when he got home.

"What are you doing here?", Ray asked warily as he opened the apartment door to find Brett lounging on the sofa watching the tv.

"Hello to you too", Brett said grinning as he turned around, "Neela let me in. You haven't forgotten we have a gig tonight have you?"

"No, but that's not for another four hours", Ray said as he made his way over to the sofa and collapsed next to Brett.

"Yeah well I thought I'd grace you with my presence early", Brett said.

"You're so thoughtful", Ray replied, which earned him a jab in the ribs.

"So anyway speaking of Neela", Brett said suddenly after a moments pause.

"We weren't speaking of Neela", Ray said eyeing him guardedly.

"Well we are now!", he said brightly, "So have you told her that you like her".

"Could you say that any louder!", Ray hissed, looking nervously towards Neela's closed bedroom door.

"Ha! I knew it!", Brett yelled gleefully, "I knew you did!".

"What?! No…", Ray stammered. "I…"

Brett carried on his rant, "I told you, see I'm always right!".

"Look!", Ray interrupted angrily, "Fine! Ok I do".

Brett opened his mouth again to say something but Neela's door swung open and Ray stopped him with a glare.

Brett smirked as Neela came into the living room.

"Neela!", He called across the room as she came towards them, "I was just about to tell you to come and join the party".

She raised an eyebrow, "What, the party that is you and Ray?"

"Yup", he said grinning, "aren't we enough".

"Of course", she said.

"I thought I heard your voice", She said smiling and turning to Ray, "How was work?"

"Same old", he said looking up at her. Feeling a little embarrassed under Brett's scrutiny he quickly looked away.

"So Neela", Brett began slyly, "Are you coming to our gig tonight?

"Oh is that tonight?", she said glancing at Ray who nodded.

"Well I guess I have a late start tomorrow so why not!",

"Excellent!", Brett exclaimed. He smirked in Ray's direction. "It'll mean a lot to Ray to have you there".

Neela beamed at Brett's words but Ray didn't notice as he was looking angrily at Brett. _I can't believe him he's so obvious. Idiot. _

"Great! It'll give me a chance to wear something nice for a change!", Neela said happily.

"You always look nice", Ray said looking at her.

Neela cheeks coloured with pleasure. "Thanks Ray". _Bless him, he's so sweet sometimes. _

She walked towards the bathroom, "I'm going to have a shower so I'll see you later".

* * *

It was a few hours later and Ray was driving him and Neela to the club in his car. Brett had eventually left the apartment to get ready and he was meeting the rest of the band there.

Neela was bent over the car stereo flicking through the tracks on the CD Ray had in there.

Ray laughed as she skipped track after track, "I don't think you're going to find one that you like on there".

Neela sighed as she reached the end of the CD. "You're right. It's all rubbish", she said switching on the radio instead.

"Hey!", Ray said in indignation. "It's not rubbish. And keep in mind that you are coming to a place tonight where most of the music will be like that".

Neela clasped her hands over her mouth in mock horror. "Good God! You're right I seem to have lost my mind. You'd better let me out here." They had reached the traffic lights and Neela pretended to open the door.

Ray shook his head and glanced at her, "Nuh uh. You're mine tonight". He said smirking.

"Oh really?", she said raising an eyebrow at his choice of words.

"You know it babe", he said shooting a sexy smile at her.

Neela felt shivers shoot down her spine. _How does he do that?! I think he got more then his own share of __pheromone_s. She couldn't help feeling a warm tingle at their friendly flirting.

Once they had reached the club Ray had gone backstage with his band to set up while Neela went to the bar to get a drink. Whilst she was waiting for the bartender to serve her she had a glance around the room. It was a decent sized place with tables around the bar area and some funky sofas around the edges. There was a large stage at front of the room and there were already a crowd of people hovering around it as the first act was waiting to be announced.

She got her drink and made her way through the crowd that had gradually been building. She bumped into a few of Ray's friends that she had met before and spoke briefly with them before Ray's band came on stage and began playing. Neela heard the familiar tunes that she had heard blast through the apartment but somehow seeing Ray perform them on stage was different. He was singing with his eyes closed and with all his soul. Neela could tell in that moment that it was something he loved with a passion.

After the band had played their set Neela made her way back to the bar to get herself another drink.

"Well here's a familiar face", she heard a voice say behind her. She turned around and found herself facing the cute guy that she had met at Nick's party all those weeks ago.

"It's Neela right?", He said smiling at her.

"Yes", she said a little surprised that he remembered. "And your…" She quickly racked her brain for his name, "…Ash!", she said triumphantly.

"Yeah that's it", he said smiling, "I didn't think I'd see you again after that party. You kinda disappeared".

Neela looked apologetically at him as she remembered how she had left without saying goodbye.

"Yeah I'm sorry about that my roommate wanted to leave and I couldn't find you to tell you I was going", she said.

"Ah its ok", he said shaking his head, "but its good to see you again".

"You too", Neela said smiling at him glad to see he hadn't been annoyed. He had been good fun to talk to at the party and at least he was someone to keep her company at the bar. Ray no doubt was being pawed at by one or more of the girls who had been drooling over him whilst he was on stage. This thought for some reason sat uneasy with her and she pushed it out of her mind.

Ash insisted on paying for her drink and they chatted pleasantly for a while. She was having a good time talking to him when Ray came up behind her.

"Neela!", he said gazing at her intently, "enjoy the show?".

"Ray!", She said smiling widely at him as she turned around. His hair was all messed up and he was still wearing his black eyeliner and stage clothes. Neela had to admit that he looked really hot. She was surprised to see him alone and not surrounded by a throng of women.

"You were amazing!" she said admiringly.

He grinned, "I'm glad you thought so".

"Oh hey this is Ash", she said realising how rude she was being having a two way conversation with Ray.

"Yeah I know", he said eyeing him suspiciously. He had seen Neela talking to Ash Barlow from a distance as he made his way over. "How're you doing man?", he said tight lipped shaking his hand.

"Good", Ash said smiling widely, "That was a great set you played!".

"Thanks", Ray replied.

"Do you guys know each other?", Neela said looking between the two of them.

"Oh yeah we've known each other for years", Ash replied cheerily. "Chicago band circuit and all".

"Ah that explains it", Neela said smiling.

"But how do you two know each other?", Ash said looking confused.

"We're roommates". Ray said slinging his arm around Neela's shoulders.

"Ah I see", A look of understanding dawned on his face. "Well I met your gorgeous roommate at Nick's party a few weeks ago". He said smiling at Neela.

Neela blushed at his words, much to Rays annoyance.

Ash carried on, "Yeah it would have been criminal to let such a stunning girl stand by herself".

Ray scowled at him. _Oh come on! Could he be any more of a loser, _he thought irritated. He tightened he grip on Neela's shoulders, "Yeah well it's a good thing I'm here now then".

Ray glared at him hoping he would take the hint. Ash looked at him a little surprised and muttered something about the toilet and left.

Although Neela was a little surprised at his sudden departure she didn't really care. Neela smiled up at Ray and turned towards him again, _"_You really were great out there tonight", she said gazing into his eyes.

Immediately Ray felt his irritation melt away as he stared into her lovely chocolate brown eyes. "Thanks", he replied.

"I thought you'd be off with some groupie by now", she teased him. Although she said this lightly, Neela felt her heart clench with an odd feeling.

"Actually, I don't really think that's my thing anymore", Ray said softly unconsciously running his fingers through her hair. He knew he was on dangerous territory but he couldn't help himself.

"Really", Neela whispered her heart racing. For some reason she felt relieved at his words. She had the sudden desire to feel his lips upon hers. He was gazing with her with such intensity in his eyes and the gap between them was inching away by the second. For one glorious second she thought it was going to happen but then…

"Ray!", a voice called out from somewhere behind them causing them to jump apart.

Ray cursed under his breath looking around, ready to tell whoever it was who had interrupted them to go to hell.

His jaw dropped open when he saw the culprit standing there.

"Melissa?"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I'm really sorry for the long wait again! Hope people are still interested in this. **

**Chapter 13:**

"Melissa?", Ray said surprised as he looked down at the person who had called his name.

Melissa stood there wearing a pale blue dress and an uncharacteristic smile (at least where he was concerned).

Completely ignoring Neela who stood awkwardly at his side, she put a hand on his arm and tossed her hair.

"So Ray!", she said sweetly, "I was wondering when I would see you again".

"Really?", Ray said slightly taken aback. Until now Melissa had never showed anything other then indifference towards him. He heard a cough from his right and looked down at Neela, who he had forgotten to introduce in the shock of seeing Melissa again.

"This is Neela", he said taking her hand and squeezing it apologetically, willing that she would understand that he wasn't happy about the interruption, "and this is Melissa" he said nodding in her direction.

"Oh so this is the roommate", Melissa said stressing the 'roommate' part.

Neela fought the urge not to roll her eyes at Melissa's nasty tone. She stopped herself from saying what she really wanted, which was 'oh so this is the bitch'. Instead she settled for "and you're Melissa".

"Oh has Ray mentioned me then!", she laughed coquettishly.

"You could say that", Neela said through narrow eyes. After everything Ray had said about how she had behaved, she couldn't believe the nerve of this woman to come up and flirt unashamedly with him.

"Well our encounters have always been fun", she said once again focusing her attention on Ray.

Ray frowned at her. "Well it was just a few parties I suppose.".

It was at that moment that Ash once more appeared at Neela's side. _Oh for god sake._ Ray thought annoyed. Melissa seized the momentary distraction on Neela's part to pull Ray aside. She wrapped her arms around Ray's neck and purred in his ear. "So why don't we pick up where we left off". She raised her voice a little and added, "We can ditch the boring roommate now and go somewhere private".

She glanced slyly to the side of him and he looked over his shoulder to see Neela, looking a little hurt, disappear into the crowd.

"Neela wait!", he called out to her peeling Melissa's arms off him, but the crowd had already swallowed her.

He turned angrily back to Melissa, who once again resumed trying to wrap her arms around him. "What do you think you doing? What are you talking about picking up where we left off? As I recall we never started anything".

"Yeah I don't know why. You know, you were really hot up on stage", she murmured running her hand up his chest.

"Well I believe you said that I was too 'shallow' for you", he said coldly taking a step back.

"Well things have changed", she said a little flustered. After Ray remained silent she burst out impatiently, "look its just a bit fun. I thought that's what you were into".

Ray sighed. Its true that there was a time when he wouldn't have objected a good looking girl looking for a fling. But things were different now. _He_ was different. He was no longer satisfied bouncing from one meaningless encounter to another. There was only one woman for him now. Only one woman who made him look forward to coming home, who he wanted to hold in his arms and never let go. He now realised that he had to be honest to Neela as well as himself about his feelings for her. He couldn't go on keeping his feelings buried.

"Look Melissa", he began, "You're right. Things _have_ changed. That's not who I am anymore".

"What you'd rather hang out with your dull roommate?", she said waving her hand angrily in the direction that Neela had gone.

Ray was seething at Melissa's words now, "She is not dull. She's ten times the person you'll ever be. Now if you don't mind I have more important things to do then stand around here wasting time with you".

With that Ray turned on his heel and walked away leaving Melissa in a stunned silence. He searched the crowd for Neela. He had some damage to repair. He could pretty much assume that her swift departure was because of Melissa. Before she had interrupted them he was sure that something had passed between him and Neela. And the way that she had been gazing back up at him, he was sure she had felt it too. If there was any chance that she might feel the same way about him, he had to know.

* * *

Neela sighed as she took another sip of her beer. After she had left Ray and Melissa she had managed to find a quite booth in one of the corners of the club and was now sitting there alone feeling quite miserable. She was having a great night before Melissa had turned up. And Ray… Well she wasn't quite sure what was happening but she felt sure that he had been about to kiss her. Much to her surprise she had been greatly disappointed when it didn't happen. And seeing that brazen tramp flirt so outrageously with him, Neela had been in half a mind to give her a good slap. _But it was really my place to was it? After all Ray and I aren't a couple. _For all she knew Ray might have been glad to see her again.

"Stupid slut", Neela muttered under her breath, earning a odd glance from a guy standing nearby.

There had been some confusion at one point when she had been talking to Ray and Melissa when ash had appeared, and she had turned back to see them wrapped up in each other. After the moment she thought she had shared with Ray it had really stung to see him with another girl. _I guess it was only one sided after all._ Neela groaned in frustration. She finally realised what she had been feeling all along. _I can't believe it. I've fallen for Ray. _They had been getting close for so many months now and Neela had long considered him a good friend, but now she realised it was much more. _How could I not realise? _Neela let out another moan and buried her face in her hands. She glanced up as she heard the people next to her shift away in alarm. _Whatever, _she thought, _Let them think I'm a crazy drunk. _

She sighed again. The problem was, what to do now? Would it be worth the risk for her to admit her feelings to him? _Okay, lets look at the pros and cons._ Neela, always one for organisation, decided to think it through logically. Well, if she told him then there might be a chance that he might feel the same way. On the con, he might feel the same way, they would start seeing each other and it might be disastrous. Then she would have to move out and would have lost her best friend. Neela suddenly had a mental image of herself homeless in a doorway wearing her scrubs.

Melissa certainly was a much more attractive candidate then she was. Neela never thought of herself as ugly but she knew she was no great beauty. Ray only had to walk into a room for girls to take notice of him. But maybe it was possible that he could like her. Even the thought of it sent a tingle through her spine. This wasn't about logic. It was about following her heart. If there was a chance that it could work then surely it was worth the risk?

Neela downed the rest of her beer for some Dutch courage and stood up. There was only one way she was going to find out.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi guys! Finally back after a very long break. I'm sorry to keep you all waiting for a conclusion to this story for so long but I promise to deliver as quick as i can. Hopefully it pleases. Anyway- here's chapter 14 at long last! :)**

**Chapter 14:**

Neela pushed her way through the thick crowd in the club as she walked the same floors over and over. After she had made her mind up to talk to Ray, she had tried to look for him but was having no luck. Unfortunately she didn't seem to have any phone reception either so she couldn't even call him. _This must be the busiest night of the year, _she thought frustrated as someone elbowed her in the ribs.

"Ow!", she yelped, but the culprit had already disappeared into the throng.

Annoyed she settled onto an empty bar stool and ordered another drink for something to do.

"Hey again!", a voice called from behind her. Neela turned in anticipation but was disappointed to find it was just Ash again. _Geez does this guy have me on tracking system or something? _

"Oh it's you", Neela said more rudely then she intended to in her tipsy state.

He grinned brightly oblivious to her weariness. "Are you looking for someone?"

"Yes", Neela said desperately, "Have you seen Ray? I can't find him"

Ash shook his head, "not since he was talking to you and that girl".

"Maybe he left", Ash suggested.

This idea opened up a door to lots of new worrying possibilities. What if Ray had left but not alone? Neela shook her head of these thoughts. The best option was to go back to the apartment and talk to him when he got home.

"So do you want another drink?", Ash asked gesturing towards the bar.

"No thanks.", Neela said getting down clumsily of her bar stool. _Whoa I guess I've had more to drink then I realised._ "I'm going to go home."

"Do you need a lift?", Ash said looking at her with a worried expression.

Neela rationalised. She wasn't exactly drunk but then trying to hail her cab this time of night wasn't going to be the easiest thing.

"Are you sure that's ok?", She asked.

"Yeah of course. I was going to head of soon anyway", Ash replied, "Lets go".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ray had been walking round the club for over an hour now trying to find Neela. He had no idea where she could have possibly got to. To make matters worse he kept getting pulled aside by friends wanting to talk. He brushed them of as quickly as he could. He could think of nothing else other then finally sorting things out with Neela once and for all.

Ray got out his phone again to see whether reception was any better in this part of the club. No luck. Earlier, after a fruitless attempt to find Neela he had gone outside to try calling her but it had gone straight to her answer phone.

He spotted Nick talking to some girls nearby and walked over to him.

Nick greeted him enthusiastically. "Hey man, where you been? Join the party!".

"Hey dude", Ray said, "have you seen Neela?"

"Yeah I did", Nick said taking a swig of his beer.

"Really? Where was she?", Ray asked eagerly.

"Oh you've missed her. I saw her leave with Ash Barlow", Nick grinned, "Someone's getting lucky tonight!".

Ray felt as though someone had just punched him in the stomach. She left with Ash? He couldn't believe this. The guy had the personality of a plank of wood. There was no way she would actually…

Even thinking about it sent a sharp pain through his chest. Even if she didn't want to be with Ray, there was no way she would go for Ash.

"So join the party!", Nick said slapping him on the shoulder, "Plenty to go around", he added in an undertone gesturing at the girls.

Nick carried on speaking and someone shoved a beer in his hand. The next half hour passed in a blur, as Ray went over and over in his mind about what Nick had told him about Neela leaving with Ash.

Ray sighed in frustration. He just wanted to forget about it. It was driving him crazy. A simpering blonde in a short skirt and a tight top that left nothing to the imagination had been flirting with him ever since Nick introduced her a while ago. An obvious groupie, she had been batting her eyelashes and giggling really annoyingly at everything he said. Before long she had asked him if he wanted to take the party somewhere more "private". Ray blinked down at her in slight surprise. He really hadn't been giving of any vibes that he had been interested in any way whatsoever. _God these girls really are easy _he thought wryly.

"It'll be fun, yeah?", the blonde said in what he supposed was meant to be a seductive tone.

Ray stared at her. He didn't really think going home with this girl was going to solve any of his problems. On the other hand, maybe a night of mindless oblivion was just what he needed. He wasn't even sure if it was safe for him to go home. He didn't think he could handle it if Neela had brought Ash there.

The blonde pouted at him, "So what's it going to be?"


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Ok well at long last! Here it comes, the final instalment in the story. Hope you havn't lost too much interest because of the long gaps between updates. Thank you all for the lovely reviews that you have written. Hopefully there shall be more roomie stories in my future. I hope the TPTB will make it happen for real on the show for all the faithful fans... Until then ... xxxx **

**Chapter 15:**

Neela sat on the sofa feeling restless. _Where was Ray? _She had gotten home to an empty house over an hour ago and decided to wait for Ray to get home. She sighed. _Well he's obviously in no hurry to get home to me, _she thought sadly. Another, more terrible thought had occurred to her several times in the last hour but she tried to put it out of her mind. _What if he's not coming home at all tonight? What if went to Melissa's? Or even someone else's? _It wouldn't be the first time Ray had stayed out all night, although admittedly not recently.

Neela got up and let out a groan. _This is useless. I could be waiting here for nothing, _she thought. She turned away to head towards her bedroom when she heard the jingle of keys in the door.

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Ray took a deep breath as he stood outside the front door of the apartment. He had decided that going home with whatsherface would have been a bad idea. There was only one woman on his mind and he had tell her how he felt. Even if there was a chance that he was too late, all he could do was pray that he wasn't. It was the early hours of the morning now though and even if she didn't have company he expected her to be in bed by now. He just hoped that she had come home and not with Ash.

After standing there for a couple of minutes he finally put his key in the lock. He opened the door and found that the living room lights were on. Standing in the middle of the room was Neela. Alone. Ray felt his heart soar when he saw that she was by herself. Neither of them said anything for what seemed like eternity all they did was just stand and stare at each other._ What is she doing up at this time?, _Ray wondered. Finally Neela broke the silence.

"Hi", she said somewhat nervously Ray noticed.

"Hey", He said.

More silence.

"So your up late", Ray commented.

Neela twisted her hands together looking at them instead of him, "Yeah I was kind of waiting for you to come home".

"I'm really sorry I left the club without you", Neela said looking up finally, "I tried looking for you for ages but I couldn't find you. And I kind of thought that maybe you had gone home with…"

Neela trailed of going red. She looked down at her hands again. Ray felt his heart sink, _she hadn't thought that I would go home with Melissa did she?_

Ray took a few steps forward till he was standing directly in front of her. He reached out and ran a finger down Neela's cheek and along her jaw and raised her chin so that she was looking at him again.

"Neela I'm really sorry about Melissa coming over in the club and being all obnoxious and everything", he said softly, "there's nothing going on between me and her".

"Really?", Neela questioned. Ray thought there a glimmer of relief in her eyes.

"Definitely not", he said firmly. He paused for a minute and then carried on, "Yeah. I tried looking for you in the club but I couldn't find you. I er… heard that you went home with Ash".

Ray tried to keep what he thought looked like a neutral expression on his face but waited for her response with baited breath.

"Oh Ash?", Neela said shaking her head, "He just gave me a lift home. He offered and I thought it would be easier then trying to get a cab at this hour".

Ray let of some of the breath he was holding. He had to know though…

"So… what's going on with you and Ash?", he asked trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Nothing", Neela said shaking her head, "He a nice guy but…"

"But what?", Ray looked at her questioningly.

Neela stared at him intently, "He's just not the guy for me".

"Oh?", Ray said not daring to hope. "And who is the guy for you?"

Somehow in the course of their conversation they had moved closer and now Ray could hear Neela speak clearly at no more then a whisper.

"Well", she said, "Lately I've been kind of thinking… Well its just that…".

"Yes?", Ray breathed.

"Well its you". she finally said looking up with a mix of emotions in her eyes.

With her words Ray felt his heart burst with joy. He had been certain that the moment that they had shared earlier in the club, before Melissa had interrupted them, had not been one sided but now he was sure.

Without another word he closed the short gap between them and captured her lips with his. Ray had kissed a lot of women in his time but nothing compared to how it felt with Neela. It was nothing short of euphoria. He wrapped his arms around her waist and her petit body molded perfectly into his. He felt her arms snake up along his chest and around his neck and he pressed the kiss deeper. It felt like a long time had passed when they finally broke the kiss, both slightly breathless. They remained intertwined and Ray rested his forehead against Neela's. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes and then Neela spoke first.

"Wow", she said looking up at him.

"Yeah that pretty much sums up what I was thinking", Ray smirking.

"You know, I've been wondering what that would feel like for some time now", Neela admitted.

"Yeah?", Ray said stroking her hair.

"I realised something tonight", Neela said holding his free hand, "I realised that my feelings for you are more then just that of friends. I want more then that".

"I've been feeling that way for a while", Ray said, "I just didn't think that you did".

"I wish you had told me", Neela said surprised to hear that Ray's feelings had been developing for some time.

"I was scared of ruining what we had", Ray said, "and plus I think it was better for you to come to your own conclusions".

"When did you get so yoda like!", Neela laughed.

"I am all wise", Ray smiled he said bending down to kiss her again.

"You know this is something I could get used to", Neela said when they finally broke apart for the second time.

"Well you'd better!", Ray said chuckling, "coz there plenty more where that came from".

"Promise?", Neela said raising an eyebrow.

"That is certainly one promise I wont be breaking", Ray grinned.

"Well guess what I'm in the mood for", Neela said running her hands up Ray's chest.

"Please god let it be what I hope it is", Ray said raising his gaze upwards, and crossing his chest.

"A good horror movie!", Neela said beaming.

Ray hugged her tightly, "Exactly what I prayed for", he whispered in her ear.

He put on the dvd player and lead her to the couch where they promptly fell asleep in each others arms before the title had even appeared on screen.


End file.
